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Looking for a wonderful scrub for the winter or holiday season… (or anytime if you live in the woods)? This renewing pine sugar scrub is just the thing to soothe and smooth your skin!
Sugar scrubs are a favorite of mine. They are just too easy to make and wonderful to use.
If you’ve looked around this site even just a bit you know that I already have quite a few sugar scrub recipes ranging from lavender to eggnog!
And of course, I also created my post where I share over 52 sugar scrubs so you could make one a week for an entire year!
I recently moved to the woods and as I write this we are fast approaching the holiday season so I have evergreens on my mind.
I’ve used pine needles in my rejuvenating pine vinegar hair rinse before and I’ve shared a post on herbal ways to reuse your Christmas tree…
So it was high time I created a sugar scrub using this woodsy ingredient!
Pine? As in pine trees?
Yep! I know we often don’t think about using evergreens in skin care and instead save them for Christmas trees and maybe a holiday scent but pine actually is a wonderful herb that we really should use more often!
Pine Sugar Scrub, Fir Sugar Scrub or Evergreen Sugar Scrub…
While I named this scrub “renewing PINE sugar scrub”, I actually used fir needles. So this really should be called renewing FIR sugar scrub. But most people aren’t searching for products with fir and even autocorrect is hating the word as each time I type fir it autocorrects to “for”.
I actually have both pine and fir trees in my yard but I usually opt for using fir for no reason other than it makes me think of Christmas.
Pine or fir trees are about the same in terms of making herbal products. I’m sure as you forage and test out these different evergreen varieties, you will soon find a favorite.
Evergreens have quite a few benefits which I’ll explain below…but first a few informational/disclosure notes about using pine/fir….
Pretty much any pine or fir tree is safe to use except for the ponderosa pine and the yew tree.
You can also make use of your Christmas tree but you’ll want to check that it hasn’t been sprayed with chemicals.
(Here is a great post on foraging for pine needles). I’ve also heard that Australian Pine and Norfolk Island Pine are toxic but those seem to be more iffy as some sources seemed to think they were not toxic.
*And of course, it’s always worth doing a small test to make sure you aren’t allergic to pine as some people can be allergic or sensitive to it. (My husband being one of those people)
Ingredients in this Renewing Pine Sugar Scrub
Sugar
Sugar is used in this recipe mostly for its exfoliating properties. Sugar will help clear off those dead cells and help your skin look bright and fresh.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is my preferred oil in sugar scrubs for a few reasons. Coconut oil is a solid oil if the temperature is below 76 degrees. This means that this scrub is a bit less messy to use because it holds its shape better.
That said, you can definitely swap out the coconut oil for your favorite scrub oil if you don’t love coconut oil.
Pine Needles
Pine is anti-everything! Antiseptic, anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. This means it’s great for treating issues like psoriasis, eczema, athlete’s foot, and more.
Pine is anti-inflammatory so it can help soothe skin and easy muscle aches!
Pine is also a calming plant. And if you are using this scrub during the holiday season, what better time for a nerve calming scrub?
Pine Essential Oil
Just like using the pine needles, pine essential oil adds to the scent and skin benefits!
Note on finding pine needles… you are best off foraging for pine needles (or for needles) yourself. For some odd reason, it’s rather hard to find pine needles for sale. Even amazon did not provide me with pine or fir needles.
Renewing Pine Sugar Scrub
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil – melted (or oil of choice)
1/2 tbs finely chopped pine/fir needles
10-15 drops of pine or fir essential oil
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Transfer sugar scrub into your favorite jar and you’re all done! (I love these jars)
To use, gently massage over your skin and then rinse off.
